Andy opened his eyes and the first thing he noticed was his headache, he thought he was blinded, but instead he found that he was in a place with no light, yet he could see his hands and body as if a dim light was present. He could not see a floor beneath him, only blackness. The floor beneath him was solid, smooth, and cold. In fact, he sat up and took note that he was very cold as well; he wrapped his arms around himself and shivered. There was a very dim fog floating in the distance of the blackness. No walls, no ceiling, no floor to be seen, only an expansive blackness. A female voice spoke to him, it was not shouting but it was loud, and he saw it was coming from what seemed to be a luminescent pair of giant butterfly wings some forty or fifty yards away.

She said, "You are not welcome here, living man."

Andy rubbed the back of his neck and walked to the floating wings; they were a vivid sky blue with markings that very much resembled a monarch butterfly. Soon, Andy found the wings were not simply floating alone, they were attached to a tall, maybe eight feet or so, female form. It was as black as the very blackness it stood in, however it seemed to reflect an unseen light, and the texture of its skin appeared to have a texture and look of tar, or perhaps it was made of a dense rubber. In any case, it moved in every way a human could move, and at times her wings would slightly flutter.

She cocked her head as a curious person would, "You should leave, or I will be forced to remove you."

"I can't leave," Andy said, "I am here to find a friend and bring him out."

Her wings fluttered at this statement, and she raised her head alarmingly, "I am the guardian of Limbo. No one is allowed beyond me unless I say. The living is never allowed."

"You have to listen to me. If I don't bring this friend back out, all hell is going to break loose."

"I am not concerned with the troubles of your, or any other, world."

Andy thought for a moment, "What if this war was started by Satan? What if he won and took over our world? Does that make a difference?"

The guardian was silent for a moment, she then asked, "Are you speaking of Armageddon? The apocalypse?"

"Yes, that's the one." Andy waited for her next words; it was difficult to tell if any emotions were occurring beneath the black resinous hide.

"If this is so, I will have to verify that you are telling me the truth."

Andy said, "Go right ahead, but please make it fast."

"It will only take a moment," she said and tilted her head upward. Her wings vibrated rapidly, and behind what would be considered her eyes, she astrally projected herself over the world exceedingly fast, over oceans and mountains and stretches of land until she found the small patch of forest in which the funnel of energy escaping from the circular hole in the ground. She noted that Satan was standing there nearby. Her invisible form stepped cautiously close to him and looked up into the visions of a coming war. It was verified. She had begun to step back from Satan when he suddenly turned his head and stared in her direction. This caused her to flee into the sky and zoom back into her body.

Her wings were instantly still, and she looked down on Andy, "It is true. He is starting Armageddon." She placed her hand over her mouth as a worried person would do, "This must not happen. Armageddon does not stop with your world. It stretches across the cosmos. It would also spill into Limbo, and we would be enslaved or destroyed as well." She stepped to the side and welcomed him by gesture, "Go find your friend. I wish you luck."

Andy walked by her, keeping his eyes on her, for he was truly amazed. As Andy made his way through the mist and the dark, calling out Barney's name, he was suddenly accosted by a grip to his hand from another hand. He turned to see a woman, an older woman, she croaked, "You are a living man. You are warm."

Andy jerked his hand from hers, raising a single brow and waiting for his heart to stop beating so rapidly. He ignored her and continued his search. Soon he came to a lone figure standing in the distance and he increased the speed of his walk until he was trotting. The lone figure, though, was a thin young man, "Who are you?" he asked.

Andy answered, "I'm looking for someone."

The figure said, "I'm someone. Can you help me?"

Andy shook his head and walked by the man. Andy was startled by the sound of a flutter. He scanned the dark, and through the mist he could define a butterfly winged figure, this one was not pitch black, but more of a dark blue, and was probably male, and the wings were yellow. The dark blue figure seemed to be wielding a long spear like weapon, it was staring at Andy, who considered that this must be some sort of guardian within the limbo. The lesser guardian did not move in a threatening manner. Andy decided it was best to ignore the strange creature and he continued into the mist calling for Barney.

The large cone of energy coming from Hell's gate hummed and throbbed throughout the forest. Most animals had vacated the proximity. A very large male demon, that basically looked like a very tall, muscular male with wings of dark feathers and wearing a stark white tunic, was alone in the forest, and he pulled the cord of an imaginary bow held by his other hand. He held it back as he aimed at a tree in the distance. He opened his fingers, which would have released the cord, and a flashing bolt of flame appeared from nowhere and shot into the tree.

Satan, guised as McBeevee, approached the demon, "Titan. My Titan."

Titan saw that it was Satan and instantly bowed, "My lord."

"I have a job for you, my Titan."

Earnest T. came from the outer woods and gained Satan's attention, he also knelt before Satan, "My worship, I am still in search of the people that trouble you. I did pick up a clue..."

Satan said, "Stop. Search no longer. I have found them."

Earnest looked up, his face was searching for how this could be, "You have?"

Satan said, "Andy Taylor is in limbo. The guardian of Limbo searched me out... stupid... as if I can't sense such a thing."

Earnest asked, "Shall I go and deliver them to you?"

Satan answered, "No. My Titan shall do that."

Titan nodded his head slightly, still looking on the ground where he knelt, "Yes, my lord."

Earnest said, "I can do this, please consider me."

Satan huffed, "How many times shall we go through this?"

Earnest stepped back in shame, "Not another time, my lord."

Satan said, "Titan, search them out. Bring them if you can. Kill them if you need."

Titan stood and smiled, his mighty wings were spread, and he made a thrust into the sky leaving a blast of wind behind him. Earnest T. watched Titan fly away, everything about him spelled out the longing he had to swap places with Titan, and a sadness could also be read, as he committed himself to the knowledge that he could not.

Andy still searched through the mist and darkness, and at times he would stumble across spirits that, at a distance, could be Barney, but were not. He was exhausted, and he wondered how this could be, it was not his physical body. Unknown to Andy, the first spirit, the elderly woman he had met in limbo had been following him, and she had gathered other spirits who were following with her. As Andy walked away from the spirit was not Barney, the elderly woman and her team of followers approached the abandoned spirit. She took the spirit by hand and spoke to him, "He is a living man. If he knows a way in, he knows a way out."

The elderly man spirit said, "He will not help us. He is in search of another."

She smiled, "We will make him take us out."

"We cannot. The living is much stronger than us."

She widened her smile, "The living is stronger than one of us." She gestured her head towards the many who followed her, "But not as strong as many of us."

The man now returned a smile. He fell into step with the crowd as the elderly woman continued to track Andy through the darkness.

Titan soared high through the air until he spotted what he was looking for, a cemetery. He landed at the first grave he came to and began to dig into the ground with his hands. Plumes of grass and soil tossed from the deepening hole until he had found the tomb. He cracked the cover open and inside was a slowly decaying man in a pin stripe suit. He laid down onto the man and Titan's body dissolved into it, fading from sight; a bluish aura wrapped the corpse, establishing a portal similar to that which encased Andy's unconscious physical body. Titan was transported, now lying on the cold hard surface outside the invisible walls surrounding Limbo.

He walked towards the mist and was suddenly thrown backwards by a bright electrical flash. He landed on his rump. The guardian of Limbo appeared instantly, "Demons are not allowed into Limbo."

Titan wiped his mouth with his forearm and smiled. He jumped up and rushed the guardian. The two grappled one another, each furiously determined to subdue the other.

If Andy had not been searching in all directions as he paced through the mist, he would have never caught glimpse of the horde of spirits following him. It really did not register to him that they might be a threat until he stopped to look back at them and saw that while he had stopped, they continued to move. This encouraged him to walk faster, and in doing so, encouraged the group of spirits to also walk faster. This was the signal that they did, indeed, have plans involving him.

Andy's fast walk soon became a jog, which the spirits matched, and next a full sprint broke out between Andy and the spirits. He had no idea how far he was traveling into the depths of Limbo, or he could have been running in circles for all he knew, but he certainly knew he had hit something solid when tripped over it and fell to the floor. Whatever it had been, his right leg was still crossed over it as he began to push himself up.

The obnoxious crew of spirits were still advancing, and Andy realized he had tripped on a spirit that was sitting with its legs tucked up to its chest, its arms wrapping around the legs, and its face planted into its drawn knees. It had not moved since Andy had tripped on it. Andy kicked it with the right leg out of pure frustration. The spirit raised its head, it wore a horribly sad face.

Andy looked into the eyes of the spirit and said, "Barney..."

Barney then asked, "Who are you?"

"It's me, Andy."

Barney squinched his eyes and delivered his next line, "Are you dead?"

Andy smiled and moved close to his friend; he swung one arm around Barney's shoulders and said, "No. I'm not. I'm so glad it's you."

Barney never returned the smile. Instead, he looked like someone who had awakened from a deep sleep and was still not fully awake. "Andy..."

"Yes Barney?"

"Who are they?"

Andy then looked up and around, they were encircled by dozens of spirits, the same spirits that had been chasing him through the darkness. Andy stood, and two of the spirits grabbed each of his arms. He shook one off and shoved that spirit to the ground, the other still held fast. Another spirit took the place of the fallen one, and three more joined in. Soon five spirts grasped Andy and in held him in place.

One of the spirits walked to him and stood before him; it was the elderly woman, the first spirit he had met while in Limbo. She touched the side of his face, "A living man." She smiled, "You are going to show us the way out of here." Andy pulled his face from her hand, revolted by the old woman. She said, "You will show us, or you will stay here with us, forever."